And the winner is...

The winner of the multicolored felt garland is random #12....Kelli!

...and the winner of my coloring book is random #7...Jennifer!

Thank you so much to everyone who entered I appreciate all your wonderful comments. I am now taking a break from blogger until the beginning of the year. I will keep my store open until the morning of Tuesday December 22nd and will then be re-opening after the first of the year. I hope everyone has a fantastic Christmas!...now go celebrate!

xo

Creative Christmas Day 6- Giveaway day!

To top off creative Christmas week I have a couple of giveaways!...first of all because I am feeling generous, and second of all because I have some wonderful blog readers. :)

The first giveaway is one 100 inch strand of my chain-stitch felt garland-multicolor. I have been selling A LOT of these in my store this holiday season. Lots of custom orders! This garland could dress up your tree, window, mantle,wall, or wherever you decide looks best. It really could be used to decorate all year...why not celebrate all year! :)

The second giveaway is one of my coloring books. It includes 14 of my original illustrations each printed out twice for double the coloring. (28 pages total) The cover is a natural felt color hand-bound with hemp. It measures 8 1/2'' x 10''. You can click here to see all the illustrations included.

To enter in the giveaway please leave a comment. Mention me on your blog and I will enter you in twice. Just make sure to let me know in your comment. You have until midnight on Tuesday the 15th to enter, and the winners will be announced on Wednesday morning. Thanks so much for celebrating with me this week!

Creative Christmas Day 5- Relax.

picture by SashaW

As we speak I am soaking my feet. I can not tell you how wonderfully relaxing it is having my feet in warm water while looking out at the snow and eating some chocolate of course. :) I have realized after putting a lot of my time in to making gifts and preparing for Christmas I have not been taking much time to relax...and with a 1 year old this time is short and precious! As women we are made to be the nurturers and to put others first. It is hard to remember to take time for solitude and relaxation. No one wants to be stressed, especially this time of year when we are supposed to be celebrating the birth of Christ. Stopping each day to remember why I am doing the things I am doing and redirecting myself if necessary. How often do you pause to be present and really enjoy the beauty of a moment or place? I remember as a child the times I would be the most present, reflective and aware of my surroundings was while I was waiting for a ride. I would look out the window, sometimes draw pictures on the window if it was cold outside and fogged over, tap to a beat in my head, watch the squirrels outside, and just be. Being is just as important as doing.

"Slowing Down the speed of Life", a book written by Richard Carlson states 5 consequences from being busy-minded:

1- Become reactive instead of responsive.

2-Take negative behavior personally rather than seeing the innocence.

3-You miss out on the good times.

4-Loose sight of compassion.

5-You expect too much from others.

I am guilty of all of these at times and I have realized that life is too short to spend your time and energy doing what drains you. Yes there are chores that need to be done even though we don't want to do them, but they might not need to get done just that minute. Here are a few ideas I came up with to stop today and relax and reflect, followed by a foot bath recipe. :)

***stretch.

***breathe deeply.

***take a gratitude walk: alone or with your family. Start walking outside and while looking at the trees, sky, etc. share out loud what you are thankful for. If it is cold, then bundle up! Fresh air is always a good thing. (It just might be a shorter walk)

***say no if you have to.

***make a rice sock for your shoulders...or maybe make one as a gift for a friend.

***sip some hot tea.

***enjoy a foot bath. :)

-1 gallon of warm water

-3 drops of lavender essential oil.(use peppermint if you have a stuffy nose)

-1 cup of Epsom salts

*oh it feels so nice on a cold night. :) Did you know that your feet have the largest pores of any area on your body. Foot baths could help improve your circulation, ease fatigue, and relieve stress and illnesses.

Take care of yourself so you can care for others.

Creative Christmas Day 5- Yummies!

Row 1:Wheat-free- egg-free cookie cutter cookies, Pumpkin Bread with no sugar

Row2:Italian Chard Stuffing, Excellent Eggnog

Row3:Red Cabbage Cranberry and Apple Slaw, Almond Butter Balls

Row4:Peppermint Log, Apple-Cranberry "Cheesecake"

One of my very favorite parts in celebrating the holidays are all the handmade goodies. These are some recipes I have collected to share with you. I have only made the almond butter balls myself so far. I make those many times though out the year, they are so simple! I may not get to all of these recipes this year but I definitely plan on making the peppermint log and the Italian Chard stuffing. Those look super yummy and unique. I also came across some yummy ham glazes that might be interesting to get creative with this year for those of you who have the traditional ham meal. Now I just made myself Hungary.

Have a splendid afternoon!

oh yeah...I forgot to mention...

...that my coloring books were featured on the 2009 holiday gift guide on Going Home to Roost. You can check it out here:

http://www.goinghometoroost.com/2009-holiday-gift-guide/

Just wanted to mention that real quick! :)

Creative Christmas Day 4- Charity

Did you know that approximately 40% of the world's population survives on less than $2 per day?...and that worldwide, 2.6 billion people do not have access to basic sanitation, and more than one billion people lack clean and safe water. I am so thankful for how and where I came into the world and for what I do have. It is hard to imagine living in those type of conditions all the time. It is easy for me to believe that I need to give. I have been commanded to give.

While looking for charity options this holiday season I thought to myself...Why do we give to charity? Is it really for them? Is it for me? Is it for God? Is it for a tax break?..hum, maybe for some people. What does the bible have to say about it? It may sound funny but as I researched I realized I still had a lot to research about this topic. I did come across a website I thought was very interesting that I wanted to share with you. I do not agree with all of the doctrine of this specific church, but what the writer is talking about on this page about charity I felt was very factual.

The Greek word 'agape' is translated as both charity and love in many places in the new testament. (mainly just in the KJV) Many people just think of charity as nothing more than giving money or donating something for a good cause. In this article the author says...

Charity specifically refers to the love that we have toward other men. Paul stresses that we are to walk "charitably" toward our weaker brothers (Romans 14:13-15). He praised the Thessalonians because "the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth" (2 Thessalonians 1:3). In 1 Peter 4:8-9, Peter told the believers, "And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. Use hospitality one to another without grudging."

I think his point was that the new testament talks about charity as a specific kind of love. So I redirected my thoughts about how I can give charity....how I can give love. It may not be writing a check to sponsor a child, or it may. My point being that you should not limit yourself to making charity only about money. Get a group of friends together and cook a meal for a specific group of people. Feed the homeless at your local shelter. Smile at the person in the car next to you at the stoplight. Get creative! Show love!

...and of course I have a list of links for specific organizations that need some love. :)

*Uthandoproject.org- an organization where you crafters can make dolls to send to children in South Africa's Kwazulu-Natal province.

*globalgiving.com-$50 will pay an orphans tuition for an entire year!

*humankindness-a Kentucky gal raising money to buy school supplies and etc. for a K-5 school in India.

*bloodwatermission.com-help work against the HIV/AIDS and water crisis in Africa.

*Compassion International-Learn about sponsoring a child in need.

Go Share the love,

Creative Christmas Day 3-Gifts/Wrapping

picture by intermissions

As you have heard me say before that this year I have not been much of a mall-goer...I have been trying to get creative. Here is a list of unique gift giving options that I came up with and also got inspired from an article in this month's issue of Mothering.

1) Buy Handmade of course! Check out the gift guides on Etsy there are tons of ideas for just about anyone from the tech lover-to the sports fanatic-to the home chef-to the person who has everything. Or if you are wanting to be the artist but need some inspiration check outInstructables or Martha's page. Some of these websites can be a bit overwhelming if you are like me and want to try everything...but they are fun. :)

2)Look for items that have a Fair Trade label...<Fair Trade is an organized social movementand market-based approach that aims to help producers in developing countries and promote sustainability. >-Wikipedia. There are many places to shop fair trade, sometimes even your local supermarket will carry fair trade items, but a popular place to shop is Ten Thousand Villages. Also check out Earthlover.

3)Give a gift card that supports a worthy cause. For example Tisbest.org TisBest Philanthropy is a registered non-profit corporation in the state of Washington and qualified as a 501c3 charity by the IRS. (It doesn't seem like you need to worry about charity schemes). This would be particularly good for kids so they can maybe choose which charity that is associated with their own interests.

5)Even if you are giving a gift card there are many ideas on how to make it personal. Check out these handmade giftcard holders.

4)Give the gift of service!- A gift doesn't have to be an object. You could cook a meal, clean someones house, babysit, write a song, give a back message, etc.

I can't think of a reason why I would need to buy wrapping paper this year when I have loads of crafting paper, paper grocery bags, etc laying around my house. Plus the Internet has tons of crafty bloggers of course with tons of inspiration. Not to mention a few... :)

1)fabric gift bags

2)Seasonal Delights- cards and gift tags

3)Tip Junkie- tons of unique ideas!

4)Olivemanna-textiles and paper goods.

5)Use pine cones or holly (careful if it is poisonous) instead of a plastic bow.

6)Decorate paper grocery bags with stamps or markers.

7)Make use of the newspaper comics.(I remember this always being a hit at birthday parties when I was a kid)

8)prettytape has tons of fun tape and don't forget to mark it handmade when you are done.

Any other creative ideas?

Creative Christmas Day 2-Tradition

hats and mittens advent calendar by garnet hill

A native Mexican plant, poinsettias were named after Joel R. Poinsett, U.S. ambassador to Mexico who brought the plant to America in 1828. Poinsettias were likely used by Mexican Franciscans in their 17th century Christmas celebrations. One legend has it that a young Mexican boy, on his way to visit the village Nativity scene, realized he had no gift for the Christ child. He gathered pretty green branches from along the road and brought them to the church. Though the other children mocked him, when the leaves were laid at the manger, a beautiful star-shaped flower appeared on each branch. The bright red petals, often mistaken for flowers, are actually the upper leaves of the plant. Tradition! I love it...Each family and culture has their own traditions each year for celebrating Christmas. I came across this idea of an advent calendar ( I can't remember where I heard of it, but it was not my idea so I can not take the credit). Instead of the traditional advent calendar this one has a little twist. Placed inside each pocket is a piece of paper with something to do that night as a family. I came up with a list of 25 ideas that could be incorporated into the advent calendar, or just used as an individual new tradition. Some of them are probably already traditions in your family, but especially for kids there is so much excitement waking up in themorning to open up the next pocket on the calendar to see how they will be celebrating that evening. 1-put up the Christmas tree and decorate! 2-make ornaments. 3-drink apple cider and listen to Christmas music. 4-play a board game 5-feed the homeless at a local shelter. 6-make festive garland. 7-go ice skating 8-make a table centerpiece 9-make Christmas cards. 10-donate extra clothing to a shelter 11-go caroling. 12-make a button wreath 13-make a pinecone bird feeder. 14-watch a Christmas movie. 15-invite friends over for a holiday dinner 16-make paper snowflakes 17-shop for family angel tree. 18-bake cookies. 19-deliver cookies. 20-look through old holiday photos while sipping hot chocolate. 21-look at Christmas lights. 22-wrap gifts. 23-read the Christmas Story. 24-go to church. 25-go around the table and share why each person in the family is a gift to you. What traditions does your family do to celebrate Christmas?Have a lovely day.

Creative Christmas Day 1- Decorate!

For most celebrations the first thing we need to do is DECORATE! Making my home feel warm and cozy and festive is a must! I was telling my husband the other day that I love the feeling when I walk into our warm cozy house during this season with the tree all lit up. It makes me so excited to be home with my family. Of course there is the traditional Christmas tree (which we put up each year)..but just for fun as you can see above are a few crazy alternatives to the traditional Christmas tree that I found at apartment theropy. Maybe one of these years I will get brave enough. :)

Below are a few simple tutorials of decorative projects I would like to try at some point whether that be this year or next. I just didn't want to forget about them, and thought maybe one of you would want to give them a try.

1- ice wreath by resurrection fern...we need to have a snow with freezing weather first.(but thats ok, I could hold off on this one until next year)... :)

2-beeswax candles... I may even do these after the holidays if I don't get around to it before. They look super easy.

3-Sweater Stocking by lifeingrace on blissfullydomestic.

And of course a few etsy finds below that I could not pass up sharing...

cute birdie ornaments -by sugarelf

tree centerpieces from vintage trims- by thelittleprints (she may have already sold this one!)

festive felt garland-by me! :)

Have a splendid Sunday!

A Creative Christmas

nativity designed by ZooLooNaturals

The past couple of weeks I have started to feel a bit frazzled and overwhelmed. It started with black friday...as many of you know I have decided to take on the handmade challenge and that means all my Christmas gifts that I give this year I have made or I have bought them from the artist them self. So on "black friday" I really did not have anything to buy, but it is a tradition to go with my mom and sister shopping the day after thanksgiving. It was fun...but for some reason this year it was a little overwhelming. I guess I just have not been to the mall for a while, but it was crazy how much STUFF people buy, and just how much STUFF there is to buy. Holy Cow! After not shopping like this for a long time, it almost made me feel a little sick inside. I started feeling a bit anxious about gifts and if I am going to have enough time to make everything I wanted to do on top of keeping up with my store this time of year. (which has really picked up in the last few weeks! I just had my 50th sale today...yay!!)...but anyways you get the idea. My brain is going crazy and not to mention my house needs to be cleaned really bad!...hehe :)

Then today I sat down with a hot drink and for some reason I felt very calm. It might have been something to do with how the warm drink felt going into my stomach or maybe it was just the feeling of holding the warm mug in my hands. Whatever it was I felt a sense of contentment, and for that moment I was not worried about anything. While sipping my drink I realized that this whole time I have been focused on getting stuff done and what I will get people for Christmas. When buying handmade or making a gift you have to put a lot more thought into it. Its obviously better than focusing on what I want for Christmas, but I was missing the whole point! I think it is very common for everyone at some point in our culture to start out the "holiday" season with shopping and what we will buy for each other, when what we really need to do is approach the season intentionally thinking about Christ. Christ was God's gift to us and I encourage you all this year while shopping or creating a gift for someone to think of it as a symbol of God's gift to us...Christ.

Now of course there are traditions and festivities in celebrating the birth of Christ and that is wonderful! It is a Celebration! :) I have been really excited to share with you this coming week many ways of being more creative this Christmas. I have a collection of ideas, handmade goodies and projects that I have done, just thought were neat, want to do, or want to remember for next year. So look forward to a celebration post each day this week to help get your mind off the mall crowds and focus on celebrating and creativity...and stick around for a couple of giveaways at the end of the week! :)

If there is one thing I have learned in this 2009 year it is that being together is more important than getting things done. So kick back, relax, create, and don't get overwhelmed with the hussel-n-bussel of the holiday season. Love everyone the way God loves you...unconditionally. Give from the heart.